The Powerplay discussion thread.
- Thread starter Matt
- Start date
Ignored for the trolling comments and use of "needs some love."
Cool, one less snarky know-it-all forum crusader to have to sift through when I'm trying to have actual discussions on meaningful topics. Also clearly the 'Trollhunter' movie reference was lost on you. For shame!
I read the forum a bit almost every day and between the countless stickies and how fast threads move from the front page, it's hard to keep up with everything. Not to mention all the sub-forums...sheesh.
The only info I ever saw was the same info made available in-game, with the only specifically listed sizes of weapons being the Pulse Disruptor [M], Frag Cannon [L], and Retribution beam
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I am fine with that in principle. Of course everybody wants an OP weapon and of course FD are going to ignore this in order to keep the game balanced.
However... making a weapon that is only available as small AND is worse than existing weapons in pretty much every regard just seems like a waste of development time. Will anybody even use them long-term?
To me, a more sensible approach would have been to make them slightly more powerful than the existing equivalent with a balancing cost in power draw/mass.
Fixed only is also an acceptable balance I think but how many players will want to fit a small weapon on their existing ships?
Also...
The convention with fixed weapons is usually that:
- They maintain their damage better at range
- They shoot where you point them
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I agree so much. Yesterday's reveal was disappointing beyond belief. I was expecting Pranav Antal's to maybe not be great, but at least be fun and different to use. It could be that, it's an interesting concept - but they made it utterly, completely useless for most setups by making it small and fixed.
During PP beta there was a large thread of complains about how casual players would never be able to get into the top 50% of merit earners to be able to buy the PP modules.
FD came out and changed the system from needing to be in the top 50% to get to rating 3, to needing 750 merits
I thought it was amusing that most of these complaining "casual" players made it clear they would not be playing PP anyway, but FD listened to them and changed the system for players who wont use it. Thats a separate issue though
At the time it was very clear that these weapons wouldn't be good. I thought it was a bad idea to have them linked to this 4 week rating 3 system.
It makes them sound like they will be good. 4 weeks with one Power seems like a bigger commitment than getting to Baron in the Empire, and you can buy a Clipper with that.
But what is the point...seriously, what is the point of releasing special (or should I say "speshul") weapons, that take 4+ weeks to obtain - while maintaining rank - if they aren't even up to par with the vanilla versions, AND aren't even available in the most popular hardpoint sizes?
I mean...it's just completely mind-boggling...
And yes, I also do believe linking these to the Powerplay Powers was wrong, and I'm not just talking about the 4+ week grindwall, but moreso the whole Power-hopping aspect that is clearly going to show itself in full force now, heh.
I mean...it's just completely mind-boggling...
And yes, I also do believe linking these to the Powerplay Powers was wrong, and I'm not just talking about the 4+ week grindwall, but moreso the whole Power-hopping aspect that is clearly going to show itself in full force now, heh.
Where did you get a 4+ week grind from? The description states that the weapons are unlocked if you are aligned with the power for 4 weeks and have achieved rating 3. So it is highly possible that you can join the power, do nothing for 3 weeks, and then get these 750 merits during the 4th week, so that when you support the power for 4 weeks you will get the modules unlocked.
It was clearly stated that the special weapons won't be superior compared to the normal weapons.
Yet a few modules DO seem superior while most seem inferior. For example it's hard to find a niche for the cytoscrambler that isn't much better filled by one of the already available weapons.
Since you clearly like to pick apart everything I say:
Would it make you happier if I said "wait-wall" instead of "grind-wall?" Does it REALLY matter? Are you going to argue semantics with me on every post? Look: you have to wait 4 weeks to obtain it, and for some it MAY feel like a grind to earn 750 merits, especially if they don't have much playtime per day/week and are suffering merit decay on a stack of what is already only a few hundred merits. Those players are probably not going to earn 750 merits in week 4, either. Regardless, it's gated content which will only be more of a grind to the players that don't have lots of time to dedicate to merit farming, due to decay.
I am also NOT asking, nor assuming, for the special weapons to be superior to the normal weapons. I think, in fact, that everyone assumed "same, but different" as this is what we were told by FD. However, it turns out that most of these weapons are clearly inferior to the vanilla versions, for reasons already stated.
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Whats the point? Good question.
Linking modules to a Power can be done 2 ways. Make it useful and have players complain about not being able to get a module that they want, or make them (I don't want to say useless) very similar to existing modules with a slight slant, but nothing too major (5% extra something might be ok, or make it shoot a different colour, or have a different sound fx)
There is no way you can make the players who work for the Power and get the special weapon, and the players who don't work for that power, or any power, happy.
Looking at what people are saying about the modules (and I'm sure more testing is needed) Aislings shields sound like the best and may be considered OP.
I've used ALDs railgun. I haven't tested it properly. just used it for some undermining, it seems fairly close to a normal railgun. I don't like the limited ammo so don't like railguns.
Some of the other modules sound bugged. Archon Delaines laser needs to be adjusted from what I'm hearing, it sounds terrible.
I wish they were available in the PP beta so there could have been some feedback and bug testing before they went live.
Joining the power did not change my gameplay style at all. I am doing what I want, where I want without any limitations. So I do not feel wasting time.
Yep, some of them are inferior, hence the balancing is necessary.
As the weapons were not tested before the balancing issues were expected. So as Ben posted - expect rebalancing.
The Enforcer Cannon specifically makes me doubt FD even cares. I bet the "balancing" will turn out just like it did with normal modules - minor buffs to useless weapons every few months that leave them slightly less useless.
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It's not an issue of testing, but of mind-boggling design decision. Several of those weapons are obviously trash at first sight, and no amount of beta testing would change that. That FD even put them out in the first place makes me doubt that they even care about weapon balancing.
I'm not too hung up on the size of the items available however I absolutely hope that as time progresses more unique items will be added to each power... I'd even advocate modest side grade variations with slightly different weapon fx for almost all of the baseline weapons available via major power (not pp) rank progression...
Powerplay AI
Ok, so after finally deciding to give PP a go I have a question. When is it viable/allowed to attack AI/players of an opposing allegiance. For example if I get interdicted outside of my powerplay area by an opposing AI of a different allegiance if I try to return fire I gain a bounty. Does the same apply if I interdict or attack an AI of an opposing allegiance INSIDE my own powerplay area?
Ok, so after finally deciding to give PP a go I have a question. When is it viable/allowed to attack AI/players of an opposing allegiance. For example if I get interdicted outside of my powerplay area by an opposing AI of a different allegiance if I try to return fire I gain a bounty. Does the same apply if I interdict or attack an AI of an opposing allegiance INSIDE my own powerplay area?